Foldable shelf



Jan. 30, 1968 ov 3,366,249

FOLDABLE SHELF Filed April 27, 1966- FIG.4.

INVENTOR United States Patent 3,366,249 FOLDABLE SHELF Henry Kovacik, New York, N.Y. (1300 Viele Ave., Bronx, N.Y. 10474) Filed Apr. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 545,695 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-90) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foldable shelf is provided which comprises a vertical panel adapted to be hung in a vertical position, as in the case of pictures and plaques, on a wall. It also comprises a shelf pivoted to the bottom of the panel. The shelf has a rearward extension at right angles to the plane of the shelf and it is pivoted along a line between the extension and the plane of the shelf. By these means, the extension serves as an abutment against the rear of the panel to limit the pivotal movement of the shelf relative to the panel to its normally open position. It further serves to offset the bottom of the panel from the wall on which the panel is hung. The shelf may, therefore, be disposed in its closed position without the use of clips or other holding means due to the fact that the center of gravity of the shelf will fall between the wall surface and the hinge line.

This invention relates to shelves and it is more particularly concerned with the provision of a foldable shelf that can be hung on a wall surface.

An object of the invention is the provision of a foldable shelf that is adapted to be readily supported on a wall as in the case of pictures and plaques.

Another object is the provision of a foldable wall shelf that can be made of a relatively small number of parts and in which the parts are essentially of stock materials.

A still further object is the provision of foldable wall shelf which is relatively easy and economical to manufacture and which is adapted to various ornamental modifications.

These objects and still further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description considered together with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fragmentary portion of the embodiment, partly exploded and partly in section, on an enlarged scale.

The invention, in general, comprises a foldable shelf having a vertical panel adapted to be hung in a vertical position like a picture or a plaque on a wall, and a shelf pivoted to the bottom of the panel. The shelf has a rearward extension at right angles to the plane of the shelf and it is pivoted along a line between the extension and the plane of the shelf. The extension thus serves as an abutment against the rear of the panel to limit the pivotal movement of the shelf relative to the panel to its normally open position and also serves to Offset the lower end of the panel from the wall on which the panel is hung. By these means the shelf may be disposed in its closed or collapsed position without the use of clips or other holding means due to the fact that the center of gravity of the shelf will fall between the wall surface and the hinge line.

Referring to the drawing with more particularity, the embodiment illustrated comprises a wall panel 10 formed of two rods 11 bent to a selected decorative shape, such as the S-shape illustrated, and welded together at the top at a junction 12. Other decorative shapes may be used, and one or more than one rod may be used to form any shape desired.

The bottom of the wall panel 10 is welded to a bar 13. The ends of the bar are each pivotally engaged with a socket 14 of a bearing 15. The bearings 15 form part of the base of the shelf.

The base of the shelf comprises a lower frame 16 formed of a piece of rod bent in the general shape of a rectangle, having a front section 17, side sections 18 and a rear section 19. The rear section is offset upwardly from the plane of the sections 17 and 18 and above the axis of the bar 13. The offsetting is provided by rear upstanding portions 20 of the sections 18 being bent at right angles to the plane of the sections 17 and 18.

Each bearing 15 is fixed in position by welding to an adjacent section 18 and to an adjacent upstanding portion 20.

Overlying the sections 17 and 18 is a railing 21, the shape of which conforms generally to the shape of the portion of the base of the shelf comprising said sections. The rear ends 22 of the railing 21 are welded to the portions 20 and also to the underlying bearing 15.

The railing 21 is provided at spaced intervals along its length with bends, such as the V-shaped notches 23, which are welded to the sections 17 and 18.

The shelf also comprises an article holding strip 24 reinforced at the front and back with rods 25 and welded to the sections 18.

By these means the panel and base members-are pivotally movable relative to each other through an angle of about See FIG. 3.

In the upright position, as shown in FIG. 2, the section 19 functions as an abutment for the panel members 11 thus limiting their relative movement. In the folded position, the railing 21 serves as the limiting abutment, while the section 19 serves as an offsetting member against a wall on which the panel 10 may be hung. Such offsetting permits the shelf to retain a closed position as shown in FIG. 3 without the use of any fastening means.

I claim:

1. A foldable wall shelf comprising a panel member adapted to be hung in a vertical position on a wall, a shelf member pivoted to the bottom of the panel member, said shelf member having an integral rear portion extending at right angles to the plane of the shelf member, said shelf member being pivoted to the panel member along a line between the extension and the plane of the shelf member, said portion comprising an abutment against the rear of the panel member when the shelf member is in an open horizontal position and an offsetting abutment against the wall on which the panel member is hung when the shelf member is in its collapsed vertical position.

2. A foldable wall shelf as defined by claim 1 in which the shelf member comprises a socket bearing and the panel member comprises a bar having its end pivotally engaged with the socket bearing.

3. A foldable wall shelf as defined by claim 1 in which the shelf member comprises a vertically offsetting railing 9 d conforming generally to the shape of the shelf and means 2,227,924 securing the railing to the shelf in offset relation. 2,707,565 2,074,785 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 459,724 2,042,517 6/1936 Ellis 108135 2,158,949 5/1939 Sarles 182--91 4 1/1941 Bunch 108-135 5/1955 Evans 211104 3/1937 Gentz 1()8134 FOREIGN PATENTS 1/ 1937 Great Britain.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

